Conveyor assembly for washing machines



Ma 1, 1962 J. E. ELKINGTON CONVEYOR ASSEMBLY FOR WASHING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 20, 1959 INVENTOR.

Jam; f: i; mva 7011 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V EN TOR. JAMES A", firm a ra/v May 1, 1962 J. E. ELKINGTON CONVEYOR ASSEMBLY FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Jan. 20, 1959 M M/W United States This invention relates to dishwashing machines and th like having a conveyor assembly for continuously moving articles to and from a washing compartment. More particularly, the invention involves an improvement 1n the conveyor assembly which will lengthen the serviceable life of the apparatus, reduce the cost of maintenance and r pair, and generally improve the operation of the conveyor mechanism.

Prior art devices of the kind to which this invention relates similarly employ a conveying means to transport articles, such as dishes, into and from a washing compartment. The conveyor generally comprises a metallic belt arrangement having laterally extending rod members connected by longitudinal link members. The belt is moved upon a support platform having side guide flanges which abut the ends of the rod members and lateral movement from the support platform. This arrangement has the serious disadvantage of causing frictional wear on the guide flange and lateral rod members, result ng in'a scoring of the flange and end-wearing of the rod members. Since each rod member carries a roller device near its ends, secured thereto by a cotter pin, the rapid wearing away of the rod end portions will soon place the cotter pins and the roller devices into contact with the guide flanges. Accordingly, this results in a more serious form of scoring and frictional wear which impairs the operation of the apparatus and may necessitate prolonged shut-down periods while new parts are being ordered.

Thertfore, it is one object of this invent on to provide an improved kind of dishwashing apparatus having means projecting laterally from the side of a carrier belt for holding the lateral rod members away from the side gu'de flanges.

Another object is to provide a con inuous belt subassembly for use in apparatus of the kind described comprising a plurality of laterally extending rod members having roller membrrs rotatably mounted thereon, and longitudinal link members connecting the rod members in series, said link members having a lateral protuberance projecting beyond the ends of said rod members.

Other more specific objects will be apparent from a study of the following description and in view of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, forming a part of this application, and in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the same,

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a dishwashing machine in which this invention is particularly adapted to be used.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a portion of a link belt assembly which embodies one form of this invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top plan view of a portion of the link belt assembly and support platform of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on lines 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a portion of a link belt assembly showing a second embodiment of this invention.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a dishwashing machine, having a washing compartment defined by a housing structure 1 and including apparatus means, generally indicated by reference numeral 2, for delivering washing fluids or other media into the washatent ice ing compartment. The apparatus means may include a source of fluid, conduits, pumps, soap or detergent mixing containers and sprayers. A conveyor means 3 is also provided for transporting dishes through the washing compartment and comprises a support 4 and a continuous link belt conveyor assembly 5. Support 4 includes a pair of laterally spaced rails 6 (only one rail being shown) which extend from without the compartment area into and through said compartment, and each rail includes a vertical guide plate 8 extending longitudinally therewith as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Conveyor assembly 5 includes first pulley means 9 and second pulley means 10, said pulleys being disposed and rotatably supported at opposite ends of support 4. A continuous peg-link belt sub-assembly, generally indicated by reference numeral 11, is drawn around the pulleys and is supported on the support for relative longitudinal movement. More specifically, a plurality of roller members 12 are longitudinally disposed on both sides of the belt and support the belt on the rails 6 to provide relatively free and frictionless movement thereover.

Belt sub-assembly 11 includes a plurality of laterally extending rod members 13 having a plurality of peglinks 14 rotatably mounted between and spanning across adjacent rod members, substantially as shown in FIG. 3. It will be noted that every other peg-link carried by one rod member connects with the same adjacent rod member, front or back, and thereby forms an interdigitated peg-link belt assembly. Coiled spring spacing members 15 are utilized to separate each pair of peg-links from the adjacent pairs, providing proper spacing for holding articles of various shapes and sizes, such as dishes, cups and the like. Roller members 12 are rotatably mounted on either end of the rod members between longitudinal link members 16 and 17 which are rotatably mounted on adjacent rod members, connecting them in serFes. A cotter pin 18 pierces the endmost portions of each rod member, holding each of the rotatably mounted parts on their respective rods.

Link members 17 are specially provided with a protuberance 19 projecting laterally beyond the ends of the rod members. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, one form of protuberance is provided by curving the link member laterally outward. This protuberance abuts the inner surface of guide plate 8, holding the rod members, as well as the cotter pins and roller members. a spaced distance from the guide plate, FIG. 4, and thereby preventing the undesirable frictional contact.

Another type of link member may be utilized, also having a protuberance, and is illustrated in FIG. 5. The link is initially made the same as link 16, but is then provided with a laterally projecting boss member 20 which is welded to the side of the link. The boss member may be separately hardened after rounding to provide an ideal bearing surface for resisting wear. This embodiment has the additional and attendant advantage that only one kind of link member need be manufactured and supplied for replacement of parts. Also, if the boss members wear down after prolonged usage, they alone may be replaced on the link members.

With either of the above described embodiments, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that there is provided a general improvement in a continuous belt subasssmbly for use in dishwashing apparatus of the kind described. Furthermore, it is to be unders'ood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples thereof, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the attached claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Apparatus of the kind d;scrib:d comprising: a support, a vertical guide plate disposed laterally of said support and extending longitudinally therewith; a belt assembly having a plurality of laterally extending rod members serially interconnected by a plurality of peg-links, roller members rotatably mounted near the ends of said rod members, longitudinal link members serially interconnecting said rod members on both sides of said roller members, said link members nearest the outer ends of said rod members having a lateral curvature projecting beyond the ends of said rod members; whereby said roller members support the belt assembly upon said support and the References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 991,433 Edison May 2, 1911 1,737,150 Davis Nov. 26, 1929 1,781,791 Miller Nov. 18, 1930 2,412,364 Sivyer Dec. 10, 1946 2,644,473 Fox July 7, 1953 

